


Carnival

by nicostolemybones (fatherlords)



Series: AUctober 2019 [9]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Carnival, M/M, mental health tw, prompt given and proofread by a friend, solangelo, there is fluff somewhere
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:27:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21553858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fatherlords/pseuds/nicostolemybones
Summary: Nico is fresh out of hospital and Will treats him to a day out at a carnivalI do not give permission for my work to appear on any apps nor do I consent to my work being reposted anywhere. If you see my work outside of my tumblr or outside of any blogs/accounts I mention in my fics, please report/contact them or inform me. If you report them, do not report as if it were your own work.My tumblr is @nicohasahappymeal
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: AUctober 2019 [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1550413
Kudos: 34





	Carnival

Nico had been looking forwards to the carnival for a week now, having just being discharged from hospital. Tartarus had caused him a lot of trauma, and Nico had suffered a complete psychotic break. He wasn’t that bothered by the fact he’d had one- he wasn’t new to the voices. He’d had them since he was young, whispering shadows, whispering spirits. He’d volunteered to go as an inpatient, upon realising that everything was worse than usual, after wishing he could take his own life to make the hallucinations stop. He’d been jittery, paranoid, barricading himself in his cabin and turning all the lights on in the hope the shadows would stay away. The food he’d stored in his cabin had gone rotten, completely forgotten about. He’d improved enough now to be allowed home- he was stabilised, at least. He was still hearing and seeing things- after all, hallucinations and psychosis don’t just disappear, but he was back to the baseline of normality for Nico. That meant daily hallucinations, a high likelihood of full sensory flashbacks to his trauma, night terrors that left him too scared to move, and general difficulty in controlling and expressing moods.

Will was thoroughly enjoying the carnival, walking around with a stick of candy floss bigger than his head, and a large pale brown teddy that was bigger than him. He could barely see where he was walking, but he looked eternally happy. It was only a small carnival, and it was cold, the ground wet from rainy weather earlier in the day. Nico looked around to the haunted house- a part of him wanted to go in, a love for all things spooky and horror drawing him to it, but he knew it would be a bad idea- there was a lot of jumpscares and whispering and creepy clowns in there. Will had gone in beforehand to assess if it was likely to trigger Nico, and after a candid discussion of Nico’s triggers and the contents of the house, Nico knew that this particular one was likely to trigger him. That didn’t mean that he couldn’t enjoy the carnival, however- there was a ghost train too, which he figured wouldn’t trigger him too badly. There were no clowns and the jumpscares were predictable because of the whirring of old machinery. Most of the figures were witches or ghouls, and Nico has hallucinated far more horrifying, seen far more horrifying monsters and spirits in Tartarus. 

He did get slightly triggered by the ghost train, because of the darkness, and he found himself hallucinating the moving shadows. Whilst it made him anxious and hypervigilant, it wasn’t anything that he wasn’t used to and couldn’t manage. He’d never been frightened of them- after all, he controlled the shadows, he was the son of Hades- but he didn’t know that shadows don’t just jump around and whisper or try to grab you. Whilst they did move, everybody described them as rippling, or like tendrils, not shadow people, and they only really did it when Nico was in a bad mood or when Nico was controlling them, not most of the time. So Nico’s psychosis wasn’t ruining the carnival for him. In fact, the thing that bothered him the most was the amount of mental patient costumes, psych ward jumpers, straightjackets, muzzles, bloody clothes. Because Nico was a psychiatric inpatient just two hours ago, and as far as he was aware, having a mental illness did not make you dangerous and scary- the only scary thing about it was the struggle and the stigma. 

Everything was red and white and old style, with arcade games and shooting games and hook-a-duck and darts games and water games. Everything was silly and fun, and by now, Nico had a bag full of small plushies. Ones he didn’t want he figured he’d give to Will or some of the younger campers. Will managed to convince him to have his face painted- Nico opted for a skull, whilst Will had a pink glittery butterfly across his cheeks. His freckles still glowed faintly below, like constellations, and Nico wondered how he’d gotten so lucky. Will was so beautiful and pretty and kind. Nico had won him the giant teddy bear on an old arcade game he’d played a lot in the Lotus, and Will clung to it. Nico was touch averse, and Will was not, so Will often got his quota of cuddles from his friends. But Will seemed to see the teddy, a gift from Nico, as an indirect way to hug Nico, a display of Nico’s affections. Nico was glad something as simple as a teddy from an arcade game could make him feel as happy as this. Maybe things were looking up now. Maybe the carnival was worth it. Maybe everything could be okay. Nico decided the carnival would be their thing from then on. Especially to see Will’s glowing smile again. 

Nico was soon able to cast aside his musings about his mental health and fully immerse himself in the carnival. Will was like a kid at christmas- he wanted something from every stall, especially when he saw handmade bead animals. Nico found himself bouncing over to a halloween themed stall, buying about five different skull ornaments to decorate his room. Will wanted to go on the ferris wheel- it was a big one with a long cue, but Nico didn’t mind. He figured the carnival would look nice from up there, so he happily waited in line. Well. He complained the whole time he was waiting, because he hated standing around, but he had Will’s company, so he didn’t mind. Once he was on the ferris wheel, he felt considerably more relaxed. Will smiled at him excitedly, and Nico couldn’t help but blush and smile.

“How many times does this go round before we have to get off?”

“Probably two,” Nico replied, “but we can always queue up again if you like it so much.”

“Are you kidding, di Angelo? We were in line for ages!” 

Nico chuckled lightly, scooting closer to rest his head on Will’s shoulder. “I’m sure there’s other rides we can go on. If you wanted, we could walk around and see if there’s a build-a-bear. We could make each other one, but, we don’t get to see until they’re done.”

“Including naming?”

“And dressing it,” Nico smiled, and Will bounced excitedly in his seat. It rocked the pod a little, but not enough to be an issue. 

“I already know what I’m gonna make for you if I get the chance,” Will grinned, and Nico raised his eyebrow expectantly. “But I’m not telling you!”

“You adorable dork,” Nico grinned to himself, “and we should find something to eat besides candy floss, I could do with a hot dog.”

“You do that, I’m gonna eat my body weight in cotton candy!”

“Of course you are,” Nico chuckled, “but maybe if there’s any rides you want to go on, you should visit them first? After all, we all remember the time we went to the theme park and you had too much ice cream before a ride.”

“Oh gods, don’t remind me,” Will groaned, before shivering in the cold.

“You’re going to catch your death, Solace, where’s your jacket?”

“I didn’t bring it…”

“You idiot,” Nico said affectionately, carefully removing his aviator’s jacket and gently placing it over Will’s shoulders. Nico had a cosy black hoodie on anyway, so he was warm enough without it.

“Thanks,” Will blushed, putting it on. It fitted him okay despite the height difference- Nico’s jacket was second hand, way too big for him in a way that Will found utterly adorable. He noticed something, blushing. “Nico, is that my hoodie?”

“It’s just so warm,” Nico replied with a blush, pulling it over his nose and showing his sweater paws, “and it smells like you.”

“You’re adorable,” Will smiled, and Nico huffed a laugh.

“Have you not seen yourself? If anyone’s the adorable one, it’s clearly you. You’re a giant care bear. And you glow? Do you know how adorable it is when you glow?”

“Not as adorable as you all bright red from the cold and cosy in my hoodie,” Will replied, and Nico let his hair fall over his face in an attempt to hide the raging blush.

“Are you flirting with me, Solace?”

“I’m always flirting with you,” Will replied, and Nico hid his face behind his hands. 

“Godsdammit, you’re impossible,” Nico smiled, and Will laughed melodically. 

“But you love me!”

“Yes, I love you,” Nico replied fondly, looking up at Will. Will looked at Nico like Nico was his whole world. Nico decided that the overhead view of the carnival paled in comparison to Will’s ethereal beauty.

Once they were back on solid ground, they did in fact manage to find a build a bear. Will made Nico a pink bat, which he named Berry for its colouring. He dressed it in a skeleton onesie, also giving it a little tophat. He couldn’t resist recording a voice message for it. “I love you, Nico!” 

Nico made a unicorn with a rainbow mane for Will, which he dressed in a pink sparkly dress over purple sparkly leggings and blue shoes- the bi flag colours. He named the unicorn The Gay Agenda, which he knew would make Will laugh. Nico recorded a heartfelt message for Will- “ti amo, tesoro.” 

Revealing the bears to each other first resulted in laughter and smiles, then pure love and affection upon hearing the recorded messages. 

After that, they stopped for food before continuing to wander around- Nico circled back to all the arcade games, happy to see his unbeaten high score still safely at the top of the leaderboard. He won a few more small teddies- one of which he handed to a crying child who hadn’t won anything. Will looked at him with adoration, and Nico found himself unable to stop smiling, because the child reminded him of himself as a child- a ball of energy asking thousands of questions, with a pirate costume and a stack of mythomagic cards. They ended up back on the ferris wheel once it was a little bit darker- the queue was much shorter, and it had been tranquil the first time. It was still tranquil, but the rest of the city looked pretty in the dark, with all the streetlights and illuminated windows. It was nice to see that people were living, thriving, happy. Nico also liked the way that he could sit close enough to Will to steal his body heat- Will was like a space heater and Nico was always freezing- so it was nice to cuddle up to him from time to time. 

Once it was getting a little too late, Will took Nico back to camp, Where Nico was more than happy to be back in his own bed. He let Will stay in his cabin for the night- besides, the cleaning harpies would probably chase Will should he be caught awake after curfew. Plus it was nice to fall asleep in his arms. Even if they were also sharing the bed with Will’s giant teddy bear.


End file.
